Footing form for casting in the ground foundation piles

ABSTRACT

A casting form for foundation piles is disclosed, which consists of a tubular body having a solid pointed end, a swingable shellvalve mating the outer surface of the tubular body being hinged to said body. When the shell-valve is closed, it exactly mates the outer surface of the tubular form due to a rebate formed on the tubular body to house the shell valve, whereas the thrust of the filler material (e.g. fluidized concrete) opens the shell valve and the filler material is allowed to pour nearly axially downward, undisturbed.

United States Patent Visconti Aug. 20, 1974 FOOTING FORM FOR CASTING INTHE GROUND FOUNDATION PILES Inventor: Bruno Visconti, Corso lndipendenza12, Milan, Italy Filed: Mar. 1, 1973 Appl. No.: 337,206

Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 2, 1972 Italy 2l337/72 Apr. l2,1972 Germany 2217677 US. Cl 6l/53.6, 6l/53.68, 52/155, 52/162 Int. ClE02d 5/44, E02d 5/54 Field of Search 61/63, 53.64, 53.66, 53.6,6l/53.62, 53.52; 52/155, 162

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l/l9()5 Shuman Ol/53.64

Primary Examiner-Jacob Shapiro Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cushman, Darby &Cushman 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures FOOTING FORM FOR CASTING IN THEGROUND FOUNDATION PILES It is known that to cast on the foundation sitefoundation piles, a tubular metal footing form is directly driven in theearth, the form being commonly called a tuboform, which is equipped witha pile shoe intended to be left in the ground, or with a pile shoefitted with a valve.

The pile shoe to be left in the ground, usually made of concrete, can befreely slipped out of the tubular form so that during the removal of thetubular form, it remains in situ in the foundation ground in order topermit that the material intended tobe used to make the pile may pourout of the tubular form.

The pile shoes of this kind, inasmuch as they are intended to be left insitu, have the defect of being comparatively expensive.

The valve-fitted pile shoe comprises one or more movable members which,while the tubular form is being driven into the ground take a closedposition so as to prevent the earth or portions thereof from enter ingthe interior of the tubular form, and during the removal of the formthey take such a position as to allow the pile-forming material to pourout.

The most elementary kind of valved shoe is formed by a substantiallycircular swash plate hingedly connected to the interior of the tubularform-in correspon dence with the bottom end thereof so that duringprogress of the form driving the peripheral portion of the plate mayrest on one or more points, or continuously, against the edge of thetubular form so as to prevent the earth from entering thereinto and,during the removal of the form, on account of the eccentricity of itscenter of gravity with respect to the hinge point, it is rotateddownwards thus affording an opening through which the filler material,such as concrete, gravel or sand, is permitted to flow.

Such a kind of valved shoe has, however, the serious drawback that itcannot be opened integrally: as a matter of fact a substantiallycircular plate hinged at a point ofits circumference in correspondencewith the bottom end of a vertical tube and in the interior thereof,cannot be opened completely towards the bottom, thus originating theshortcoming of being compelled to use extremely fluid materials.

Another defect of this kind of pile shoe is its inadequate capability ofbeing driven through very compact earth layers.

Another kind of valved shoe as used today comprises a plurality ofmembers, which are substantially a part of a conical surface, which arehinged at the bottom end of the tubular form and which, during thedriving operation, remain united by means of a holding ring which hasbeen freely slipped onto the pointed end, whereas during the withdrawalof the form they are opened since the action of the ground acts in sucha way as to slip the ring out of said members and to remain in situ.

In this kind of valved point the opening of the members is a completeone so that the material flows as an entity and without any difficulty;there is, however, the serious defect that the hinges of the valvemembers are broken within a short time since they receive and transferall the shocks and/or vibrations transferred by said members during thedriving of the tubular form into the ground.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a form of tubularform having a valved point which is capable of removing or minimizingall the defects enumerated above which impair the conventional pileshoes, while retaining simultaneously all of the advantages thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a foundation form ortubular form having an extremely reliable, durable and cheap pointedend.

Having these objects in view, it has been envisaged to provide a footingform characterized in that it comprises an end tubular portion having apointed end comprised of two portions, one fixed and the other movable,the fixed portion being integrally formed with said tubular portion,whereas the movable portion is hinged to said tubular portion and can bedisplaced between an open position where the filler material is allowedto flow, and a closed position where the free end of the movable portiongoes to be housed in a rebated portion of a pointed end of the fixedportion.

In order that the features of the invention may be better understood anexemplary description thereof will be given in the following, referencebeing had to the accompanying diagrammatical drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is an elevational view showing a footing form made according tothe present invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view showing the same form shown in FIG. 1 butrotated through an angle of degrees with respect to that of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 to 6 are cross-sectional views taken along the lines III-III,IV-IV, V-V, and VI-VI of FIG. 1, respectively.

With reference to the drawings, the form in question is generally shownat I and is structurally composed by a metal tubular portion 2, of whichthe end portion only has been shown, and by a pointed end 3. The pointedend 3 has a substantially ovoidal cross-sectional outline whichgradually tapers from top to bottom (FIGS. 4 and 6) and comprises twoportions 4 and 5. The portion 4 is fixed and is integrally formed withthe tubular portion 2 and has a solid pointed end 6 (FIG. 6) whereas theportion 5 is movable between a closed and an open position for its beinghinged as at 7 to the tubular portion 2; the open position of theportion 5 is shown in FIG. 1 in dotted lines, whereas the closedposition is shown in solid lines.

As clearly seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the free end of said portion 5, in theclosed position, goes to become housed in a rebated portion 8 formed inthe pointed end 6.

By so doing, during the driving of the form into the ground body, themovable portion 5, which is kept closed by the lateral trust of theground itself or by any suitable conventional means, and the relativehinges, are influenced to a minimum extent only by the shocks and/orvibrations which are transferred axially to the form while the latter isbeing driven down, these shocks and/or vibrations being nearlycompletely absorbed by the pointed end 6, the portion 4 and the tubularportion 2, as formed integrally.

During the withdrawal of the form from the ground, the portion 5 isopened in the position shown in dotted lines to permit the fillermaterial to pour out, the latter following, on account of the formstructure, an axial route so that it can be even not too fluid withoutcausing any trouble thereby.

In addition the comparatively acuminate shape of the form according tothe invention permits its use in very compact grounds where theconventional forms could not be used without a preliminary drilling ofthe ground, which, obviously, is much objectionable from an economicalstandpoint.

What is claimed is:

1. A footing form for casting foundation piles directly in the groundcomprising: an end tubular portion with an acuminate end consisting oftwo portions, one fixed and the other movable, said fixed portion beingformed integrally with said tubular portion and being provided with apointed end having a rebate forming a seat,

gradually tapers from top to bottom.

1. A footing form for casting foundation piles directly in the groundcomprising: an end tubular portion with an acuminate end consisting oftwo portions, One fixed and the other movable, said fixed portion beingformed integrally with said tubular portion and being provided with apointed end having a rebate forming a seat, wherein said movable portionis hinged to said tubular portion and is displaceable between an openposition to permit flow of filling material and a closed position inwhich the lower free end of said hinged movable portion becomes housedin said rebate forming a seat in said pointed end of said fixed portion.2. A form according to claim 1, wherein said pointed end is solid andformed integrally with said fixed portion.
 3. A form according to claim1, wherein said end has a substantially ovoidal cross-sectional shapewhich gradually tapers from top to bottom.